Barry Bonds: "I Wiped out Babe Ruth. Don't Talk About Him No More"

ESPN.com ^

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Wednesday, July 16, 2003 Desired target in homer assault: Ruth

Associated Press

CHICAGO -- Barry Bonds keeps climbing the home run charts, edging closer to Willie Mays' mark and drawing more and more questions about whether he will break Hank Aaron's record.

Bonds, however, is also taking aim at The Babe.

“ In the baseball world, Babe Ruth's everything, right? ” — Barry Bonds

The San Francisco slugger leads the majors with 30 home runs at the All-Star break, putting him just 17 shy of matching his godfather -- Mays -- for third on the career list.

"Willie's number is always the one that I've strived for," Bonds said before Tuesday's All-Star Game.

"And if it does happen, the only number I care about is Babe Ruth's. Because as a left-handed hitter, I wiped him out. That's it. And in the baseball world, Babe Ruth's everything, right? I got his slugging percentage and I'll take his home runs and that's it. Don't talk about him no more."

Ruth hit 714 home runs, a mark that stood for many years until Aaron came along. Aaron finished with 755, but Bonds said "755 isn't the number that's always caught my eye."

At 38, Bonds' drive to reach Aaron has been slowed a bit by his high walk total. With each year, the daily grind of playing left field might take its toll, too. Bonds has said recently that he would welcome playing for an AL team -- he's specifically mentioned the Angels -- as a full-time DH once his contract with the Giants is up.

"The toughest thing about getting older is playing defense. That is where you get hurt. Guys can hit from a wheelchair," said Cubs manager Dusty Baker, Bonds' former manager. "I always thought someday Barry might be a first baseman or a DH."

The AL beat the NL 7-6 to gain home-field advantange for the World Series.

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[Corin Stormhands]

You know, part of me wants to like MLB again...but I'll get over it.

[journey7873]

Bonds is pissed because they haven't named a candy bar after him yet.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

[Bonds played in] hitter friendly parks with shorter right field walls.

I really hate to defend Bonds, but let's not forget that Ruth played in Yankee Stadium when the right field line was only 299', even shorter than it is today.

[Hegewisch Dupa]

Add to that all the other sports that are popular today. The present athelete has many choices available to him, thus diluting the baseball talent pool even further.

[cinFLA]

So none of his home runs have come as a DH (with the possible caveat that he might have DHed and hit home runs in a few interleague games played in AL parks.)

Watching him play in the outfield, he might as well be DH'ing.

[Dems_R_Losers]

But Ruth never took steroids. The only nutritional supplement he took was beer!

[Guillermo]

That's true...but, he wants to finish his career as a DH.

If he hit his last HR's as a DH, in my view, the record would be "tainted."

I hate the DH rule.

[eddie willers]

I hate the DH rule.

"Death Before DH!"

[WI Conservative 4 Bush]

Exactly right about number of games.

Ruth hit 714 HR's in 2,503 games. Bonds sits at 643 in 2,519 games. I respect Barry for his accomplishments. I only wish he respected those who came before him for their accomplishments. It doesn't seem like too much to ask.

[Billthedrill]

You bet, Barry. Ruth was one of the best left-handed pitchers in baseball in his day. How many innings have you pitched? Idiot.

For my money there are only two players worthy of consideration for the "greatest player" honors - Ruth and Satchel Paige. Both could pitch, field, and hit at the highest professional level. The name "Bonds" isn't even on the radar screen.

[BenLurkin]

LOL

[Hatteras]

"Bond's attitude and mouth is why he will never every replace Babe Ruth, even if he hits 2 times what Aaron did, he will never be in the same league."

Now, judging solely on anything and everything I have read about the Bambino, he wasn't exactly a classy guy himself. Pointing to the fence before stepping to the plate would put him in the same class as Bonds. The difference is that we didn't witness, first-hand, the "antics" of Ruth. The press went out of their way to hide the off-the-field adventures of the Sultan of Swat. And the press today doesn't give a lick about baseball, they're merely after whatever blood and controversy they can dig up.

As a ball player, you have to be impressed with Bonds. Personally, you don't have to like him at all, but the way I see it, he walks the walk.

[WI Conservative 4 Bush]

Also, what is Barry talking about with regard to Slugging Percentage? From MLB.com, it shows that Babe's career slugging is .690, BA of .342. Barry is at .599 and .296. Whatever...

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Here's a great column from the Miami Herald ripping Bonds for ripping the Babe.

Bonds ripping Babe Ruth appears blasphemous

By GREG COTE
Miami Herald

MIAMI - Anything in the way of modesty coming from Barry Bonds would, by this time, seem startlingly false, be too much to expect. Barry and humility have not met. He doesn't do humble. He leads the majors in homers and arrogance, and there are people who think one forgives the other, as if great talent mandates preening ego.

But dissing The Babe?

Our prince of petulance has discovered his latest new low.

Bonds bashing Babe Ruth during the All-Star break is sort of like a cardinal (not Albert Pujols, the other kind) choosing Easter at the Vatican to knock the Pope.

You don't disrespect The Bambino; deference to him is baseball law. If America's Pastime has a deity, it's Babe Ruth.

Oh, sure, you are officially permitted to poke gentle fun at his girth, or at the mincing gait seen in black and white newsreels, or at the idea his off-the-field nickname might well have been the Sultan of Swig.

But you do not - ever - suggest that any conversation about home run hitters should start with any name other than Babe Ruth. Let alone your own name!

Unless you are Barry Bonds.

``As a left-handed hitter, I wiped him out. That's it,'' Bonds brayed Monday. ``And in the baseball world, Babe Ruth's everything, right? I got his slugging percentage, and I'll take his home runs and that's it. Don't talk about him no more.''

It's a marvel how Bonds can be so impressively athletic yet have so little grace.

What he has accomplished speaks for itself. (If only!) The season record of 73 homers. The five MVP awards. The reservation in Cooperstown . . .

But how unbecoming that Bonds would trumpet himself by knocking American sports' all-time icon, a slugger dead nearly 55 years now but vitally alive as the rarest of legitimate legends.

Did Michael Jordan boast how he ``wiped out'' Magic Johnson? Did Dan Marino denigrate Johnny U? Did Hank Aaron, in eventually surpassing Ruth in career homers if not historical esteem, display anything but class in earning the record?

Perhaps Bonds' comments were part of a grand scheme, an orchestration by baseball to divert attention from the fact Tuesday's All-Star Game in Chicago was dominated by semi-stars, with so many first-time selections and a matchup of starting pitchers (Jason Schmidt-Esteban Loaiza) meriting not a marquee but a sandwich board.

Yeah, that's it. A master plan.

First you leave Sammy Sosa off the team so the soundtrack of the game won't be Chisox fans riding Sosa like a found mule while bombing the field with wine corks.

Then you create a media diversion by originally snubbing Marlins wunderkind Dontrelle Lewis (knowing full well he will eventually get on) while including a Pirates reliever with an ERA that looks like a professional bowler's three-game series.

Then you create more controversy by sacrificing Oakland pitcher Barry Veto, oops, Zito, to make a last-minute roster spot for retiring star Roger Clemens.

Then you top it off by having Barry Bonds rip The Babe.

(Oh, one more thing. Almost forgot Tuesday night's seventh-inning stretch, when fans still angry over last year's All-Star Game tie were given bats and invited to sprint after commissioner Bud Selig, who was dressed as a gigantic sausage.)

The thing that's so self-damning about Bonds' comments, beside the gall, is that he's wrong. His career numbers do not surpass Ruth's.

Babe's 714 homers amounted to one every 11.76 at-bats, while Barry's 643 equate to one in 13.36 at-bats. Ruth led the league in homers 12 times. Bonds? Two.

Ruth invented long ball, and you must judge his numbers against his era. When he hit 54 homers in 1920, the NL leader had 15. When Babe hit 60 in 1927, 30 led the NL.

It's more than home runs.

(ASTERISK) Ruth's career batting average (.342) was 57 points higher than the sport-wide average in his era, while Bonds' .295 is 34 points higher.

(ASTERISK) Ruth's career on-base average (.474) was 121 points above average; Bonds' .428 is plus-98.

(ASTERISK) Ruth's career slugging percentage (.690) was 290 points better; Bonds' .595 is plus-191.

There are legitimate yeah-buts on either side that fairly neutralize themselves.

Yeah, but: Ruth played before integration, against only white players.

Yeah, but: Bonds played in the era of inflated home run numbers, always dogged by suspicions of steroids.

Hey, Bonds is the greatest slugger of his generation. Give him credit.

But Babe Ruth invented the genre, and remains the standard.

Give him respect.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Great point about Ruth being a tremendous pitcher.

He set World Series records for pitching and was a member of the 1915, 1916, and 1918 World Series winning Red Sox squads.

Ruth went 18-8 in 1915, 23-12 (league-leading 1.75 ERA and 9 shutouts) in 1916, 24-13 (2.01 ERA) in 1917, and 13-7 in 1918 before moving to the outfield on a more regular basis.

[hchutch]

Arrogant?

He's proven he can do it, so it's not really bragging or arrogant.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Great point about Ruth being a tremendous pitcher.

He set World Series records for pitching and was a member of the 1915, 1916, and 1918 World Series winning Red Sox squads.

Ruth went 18-8 in 1915, 23-12 (league-leading 1.75 ERA and 9 shutouts) in 1916, 24-13 (2.01 ERA) in 1917, and 13-7 in 1918 before moving to the outfield on a more regular basis.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Great point about Ruth being a tremendous pitcher.

He set World Series records for pitching and was a member of the 1915, 1916, and 1918 World Series winning Red Sox squads.

Ruth went 18-8 in 1915, 23-12 (league-leading 1.75 ERA and 9 shutouts) in 1916, 24-13 (2.01 ERA) in 1917, and 13-7 in 1918 before moving to the outfield on a more regular basis.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Sorry for the multiple posts, something went kerflooey.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

You don't think it's arrogant to announce to the world that he has "wiped out Babe Ruth" and that people shouldn't talk about Ruth "no more"?